The present invention relates generally to the field of binding assemblies and, more particularly, to an improved binding assembly for snowboards.
Over the last decade, snowboarding has become a very popular winter sport in the United States and other countries. While skiing and snowboarding are usually performed on the same slopes, they differ significantly from each other. For example, rather than having separate skis for each foot and poles for each hand, a snowboarder has both feet secured to a single, relatively wide board, and no poles are used. In addition, unlike skiing, snowboard bindings are mounted on the snowboard at an angle to the longitudinal axis thereof.
Furthermore, to protect a skier's ankles and knees during a fall, skis are provided with safety release bindings to disengage the ski boots therefrom. Because a snowboarder has both feet attached to a single board, the twisting force from a fall is transmitted to the person's torso, rather than to the ankles or knees. Nevertheless, in an attempt to protect snowboarders from the injuries incurred by skiers, ski safety-release bindings have been adapted for use on snowboards. However, because snowboards encounter different forces than skis, and further because a snowboarder's feet are positioned differently on the snowboard than are a skier's feet on skis, conventional ski safety-release bindings have not proven satisfactory for use on snowboards. Moreover, a significant danger in using safety-release bindings on snowboards is presented when only one boot is released during a fall. Since snowboards are substantially heavier than individual skis, the torsional strain imparted to the knees or ankles of a snowboarder by the release of only one boot is greater than that imparted to a fallen skier. In fact, to prevent one of the boots from disengaging from the snowboard and thereby possibly causing injury to the knee or ankle of the other leg that remains secured to the snowboard, the use of safety-release bindings on snowboards has been discouraged.
Because snowboarders do not use poles, they virtually cannot maneuver their snowboards over relatively level ground (e.g., when attempting to maneuver into a chair lift). To propel themselves along the ground in "skateboard" fashion, snowboarders must be able to remove at least one boot from the snowboard. With conventional snowboard bindings, a snowboarder has to unbuckle or unstrap the boot from the snowboard. This is a cumbersome and time-consuming task. Furthermore, to prevent unnecessary injury after alighting onto the ski lift with at least one boot freed from the bindings, the snowboarder may want to reattach the boot to the snowboard before the ski lift reaches the top of the slope. While unbuckling or unstrapping one of the boots from the snowboard is difficult enough on level ground, reattaching the boot while hanging in midair on a chairlift is even more difficult. Therefore, an easily manipulated binding assembly for a snowboard has been desired.
An additional feature of conventional snowboard bindings is a boot backbrace or "highback" connected thereto. To initiate a heel turn, a snowboarder must lift the edge of her snowboard that is adjacent to her toes. Because people typically do not have sufficient muscle in their lower legs to elevate that edge of their snowboards, backbraces have been added to binding mechanisms. These backbraces are used by snowboarders to transmit their body weight to the snowboard to lift the required edge thereof. To reduce the discomfort and weight of binding assemblies, a backbrace that is disposed within a snowboard boot and is rigid in one direction yet flexible in other directions has also been desired.